These tasty small-batch orange sugar cookies are made with a few simple ingredients a bowl and a wooden spoon. I make these cookies without an electric mixer or food processor, all you need is a wooden spoon for mixing. This small batch recipe is a bit bigger than most of my other cookie recipes because they go really fast and keep nicely for a few days.
My small batch sugar cookie recipe bakes 12 medium-sized cookies perfectly on a quarter sheet pan.
Easy sugar cookies and a great recipe for the first time baker.
Simple Ingredients
The ingredients for this easy recipe are basic and probably have almost everything already in your pantry.
The fresh-squeezed orange juice can be substituted with 2 teaspoons of frozen orange juice, orange extract, or bottled orange juice.
For a little different flavor, you can substitute lemon extract or almond extract.
Variation
I like my cookies plain but you can also make a super simple cream cheese frosting by combining room temperature cheese, powdered sugar, orange extract, and vanilla extract. Use a wooden spoon to mix it all together until smooth a creamy.
Instructions
In a medium bowl, combine the butter, granulated white sugar, vanilla, and egg. Use a wooden spoon to mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Next, add the orange zest and orange juice to the butter mixture and mix until creamy and smooth.
In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Use a wooden spoon and mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
Remove from refrigerator and use a cookie scoop to form uniform-sized balls and place them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.
Use the bottom of a glass, lightly dusted with flour, and press the cookie dough balls down to form a circle.
Place the baking sheet with the unbaked orange sugar cookies in the refrigerator while you preheat the toaster oven to 350° degrees Fahrenheit. Bake on the middle rack for 15-18 minutes or until light golden brown and have crispy edges.
Visit the web story for this yummy small batch of orange sugar cookies recipe.
How to store the baked sugar cookies
The unfrosted baked orange sugar cookies can be stored in a covered container at room temperature and will stay fresh for a couple of days. If frosting the cookies, you should refrigerate them for up to 2 days.
FAQ's
Yes, you can! Lay the cookies in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet and place them in the freezer until frozen. Transfer the frozen cookies into a Ziploc freezer-safe bag. You need to freeze them in a single layer so they don't all freeze together.
Be sure to label and date the containers. Cookies can be frozen for u to a month.
This happens when there is not enough flour to hold the melted butter. In a small batch recipe, there isn't much room for error so measure out the flour exactly by spooning it into the measuring cup and leveling off with a knife.
More Easy Cookie Recipes From Scratch
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📖 Recipe
Orange Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 5 tablespoons butter softened
- 1 egg white lightly beaten
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1 teaspoon orange extract
Instructions
- In a medium bowl combines the butter, sugar, vanilla, and egg. Use a wooden spoon to thoroughly mix.
- Mix in the orange zest and orange juice into the butter mixture.
- In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Use a wooden spoon and mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
- Cover bowl and place cookie dough in refrigerator and chill for 30minutes.
- Remove from refrigerator and use a cookie scoop to form uniform-sized balls and place them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.
- Use the bottom of glass, lightly dusted with flour, and press the cookie dough balls down to form a circle.
- Place baking sheet with cookies in the refrigerator while you preheat the toaster oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Bake on middle rack for 15-18 minutes or until slightly brown around the edges.
Nutrition
More easy cookie recipes include my cream cheese cookies and the scrumptious chocolate fudgy cookies.
Linda
I followed the recipe exactly and the dough spread into one giant cookie sheet cookie after only 10 minutes in the oven. I was able to salvage this disaster by quickly grabbing my cookie cutters and cutting into shapes. Something is definitely off in the ratio of butter to flour.
Sydney
Hi Linda,
I’m sorry that happened to you.i've made this recipe several times and never had that happen! What method did you use to measure the flour?